Collapsible cabinet



Oct.

31, 1961 H. KREY 3,006,709

COLLAPSIBLE CABINET Filed July 13, 1959 9- 34 I6 35 s L5 7 Y r l 36 ea 9 I INVENTOR HAROLD 1. K Y

ATTORNEY United States Patent 9 3,006,769 7 COLLAPSIBLE CABlNET Harold L. Krey, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Livingston & Co., Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 13, 1959, Ser. No. 826,844 9 Claims. (1. 312-262) This invention relates to storage cabinets, and more particularly relates to metal cabinets of the knock-down type which may be assembled and disassembled easily and in a matter of minutes.

Storage cabinets of the knock-down type are useful to the purchaser in those cases in which it is desirable to set-up a temporary storage cabinet which can be easily and quickly set-up for use, and subsequently just as readily dismantled to occupy a relatively small volume for purposes of convenient storage until again needed in the future. An additional advantage accrues to the user in that, in general, cabinets which may be collapsed into a relatively small volume may be marketed by a manufacturer at a price substantially lower than if such cabinets were made in permanently set-up form. The cheaper selling price is brought about by the fact that the manufacturer may be enabled to ship for a given freight charge five to six times the quantity of knocked-down types that would be possible to ship if such cabinets were in permanently set-up condition. Hence, the shipping charges necessarily associated with each cabinet may be drastically reduced, and when such shipping charges normally approach an appreciable fraction of the cost of manufacturing it is apparent that the savings achieved will be quite significant. Accordingly, it is an important object of my invention to provide a novel collapsible cabinet which may be manufactured and sold at a relatively low price as compared to similar cabinets of the preassernbled uncollapsible type.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel collapsible cabinet which may be set-up in condition for use in a matter of minutes without requiring the use of any tools whatever.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a novel collapsible cabinet having a front section of symmetrical configuration which permits such front section to be assembled with the rest of the cabinet without regard to considerations of top or bottom orientation.

The foregoing and other objects of my invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the following specification in conjunction with an examination of the appended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a typical embodiment of the invention illustrating a collapsible cabinet in set-up form with the front doors open, one of which is detached from the cabinet front frame to reveal certain details of the hinge construction;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the cabinet of FIGURE 1 as indicated by the section line 2-2, vertical and horizontal break lines being employed to reduce the figure size while permitting enlargement of significant structural details for clarity of presentation;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken through the cabinet of FIGURE 1 as indicated by the sectional lines 33 on the showing of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view such as would be seen when viewed along the lines 4-4 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 2.

In the several figures like elements are denoted by like reference numerals.

Examining first FIGURE 1 for an understanding of the general structural organization of the collapsible cabinet shown therein, there will be seen a three-panel side 3,006,709 Patented Oct. 31, 1951 "ice and rear wall assembly 10, '11 and 12 in which each of the side wall panels 10 and 11 is hingedly secured to the back panel 12 by a vertically extending piano type hinge 13. The door frame section includes a pair of vertically upstanding side columns 14 secured rigidly to one an other by the horizontally extending top and bottom door frame sections 15 and 16 respectively, the columns 14 and top and bottom sections 15 and 16 being rigidly secured together as for example by welding.

The door frame section and side wall and rear Wall assembly are secured to one another by a plurality of spring clips 17 which pressingly hold together flanged portions of the door frame side columns 14 and similarly flanged portions of the side walls 10 and 11, details of such connection being most clearly seen in the showings of FIGURES 2 and 3 to be subsequently described. Rigidifying the structure are a top section 18, a bottom section 20 and an intermediate spaced shelf 19, the top, bottom and shelf being formed with side and rear flanges disposed in pocket like formations associated with the side and rear Walls 10, 11 and 12 also to be subsequently described in connection with the other figures. Completing the cabinet are a pair of doors 21 swingably secured to the door frame section by hinges 22.

Turning now to an examination of FIGURES 2 and 3 for a clearer understanding of the structural organization of the side and rear wall assembly and the door frame assembly, it will be observed in the showing of FIGURE 3 that the rear wall 12 is a flat sheet of material such as metal and that the side walls 10 and 11 are formed with inwardly-turned vertically extending flange parts 23 and 24 respectively, the side walls 10 and 11 being otherwise planar. Each of the hinges 13 is seen to include a flange 25 welded to the inside surface of the side walls 10 and 11 at the rear edge thereof, and to further include a flange 26 welded to the outside vertically extending edges of the rear wall 12. Thus, when the door frame section is disconnected and the top and bottom sections and intermediate shelf are removed, the side walls 10 and 11 may be swung inwardly into overlapping relationship, with the side Wall 10 or 11 sandwiched between the rear wall 12 and the other side wall.

As best seen in the showings of FIGURES 2 and 5, the side walls 10 and 11 and the rear wall 12 are turned upward at their bottom edge to form the pockets 27, 28 and 29 respectively for receiving the downwardly turned side and rear flange portions 30, 31 and 32 of the bottom section 20'. Welded to the side and rear walls adjacent the top edges thereof are sheet metal pocketmembers 33 and 34 which receive the downwardly turned side and rear flanges 35 and 36 of the top section 18. In exactly the same manner, the pocket forming sheet metal members 37 and 38 are welded respectively to the sides and the rear wall for receiving the downwardly turned side and rear flanged portions 39 and 40 of the intermediate shelf 19.

Welded to the inside surface of each of the side walls 10 and 11 immediately below the pocket forming sheet metal elements 37 which support the intermediate shelf 19, are hanger bar supporting strap brackets 41 forming an opening through which may be projected in a horizontal direction the rearwardly turned end sections 42 of a hanger bar having a main horizontally extending section 43 bridging between the side walls 10 and 11 and further rigidifying the cabinet when installed. The bracket 41 is formed with a forwardly projecting tab 44 which extends horizontally forward from the bracket 41 at an elevation higher than the bracket opening through which the hanger bar ends 42 are projected, so that after the hanger bar is inserted into the brackets the tab 44 may be bent downward around the front of the horizontal portion 43 of the hanger bar to lock it firmly in place.

A similar tab 45 is seen to extend forwardly from the bracket 41 secured to the inside surface of the side wall excepting that in this case the tab 45 is seen to be initially located below the transversely extending portion 43 of the hanger bar so that after installation of the latter into the bracket 41 the tab 45 is bent upwardly. The difference in orientation of the tabs 44 and 45 of the brackets 41 is, of course, due to the fact that the brackets are identical and it is therefore required that one of the brackets 41 be rotated through 180 relative to the other bracket in order to secure these brackets to the inside surfaces of the opposite side walls. In order to remove the hanger bar for purposes of collapsing the cabinet, it is, of course, necessary to bend the tabs 44 and 45 again substantially horizontal so that the hanger bar may be slipped forward and removed from the mounting brackets 41.

Considering now the structure of the unitized doorframe assembly, it is seen from the showings of FIGURES 2 and 3 that each of the side columns 14 includes a side section 46 in planar extension with the side walls 10 and 11, an inwardly-turned rear flange portion 47 positioned adjacent the inwardly-turned front flanges 23 and 24 of the side walls 10 and 11, a front portion 48, a backwardly turned rearwardly extending portion 49 for accommodating the depth of the doors 21 when the latter are closed, and a horizontally inwardly turned portion 50. These side columns 14 are open at their top and bottom ends, the open ends being covered by the top and bottom sections and 16 of the door-frame assembly. The top and bottom sections 15 and 16 are seen to be formed by top and bottom walls 51 and 52 respectively extending in horizontal planar continuation of the top 18 and the bottom edges of the side and rear walls 10, 11 and 12, vertically extending planar front faces 53 and 54, horizontally inwardly turned and rearwardly extending faces 55 and 56, and vertically turned flanges 57 and 58. Additionally, the top section 15 has a vertically downwardly turned rear flange 59 and side flange 60, the bottom section having a similarly formed upwardly turned rear flange 61 and side flange 62.

The side columns 14 and the top and bottom door frame sections 15 and 16 are rigidly secured together, the portions 55 through 58 of the top and bottom sections being cut away at the corners so that the top and bottom surfaces 51 and 52 may be seatingly engaged with the ends of the side columns 14. The flange portions 57 and 58 of the top and bottom sections 15 and 16 may then be welded to the inwardly turned flange 50 of the side columns 14, and the front faces 53 and 54 of the top and bottom sections may similarly be welded to the front faces 48 of the side columns. The securement of the various sections of the door frame assembly to one another to form a unitized structure is completed by welding the vertically extending side flanges 60 and 62 of the top and bottom sections to the inside faces of sides 46 of the side columns 14, and by welding the vertically presenting rear flanges 59 and 61 of the top and bottom sections to the inwardly turned rear flanges 47 of the side columns.

Referring again to the showing of FIGURE 1, it will be seen that each of the door hinges 22 is formed from two sections, a lower section 63 welded to the rearwardly extending face 49 of the side columns 14, and an upper section 64 welded to the hinge edge of the door 21. The lower sections 63 of the hinges 22 are each formed with a vertically extending hole adapted to receive a vertically extending pin 65 depending from each of the upper hinge sections 64. By properly positioning the lower hinge section 63 on the side column 14, and the upper section 64 on the doors 21, the symmetrical door frame assembly may be turned top-for-bottom so that the top section 15 becomes the bottom section 16 and vice versa while still retaining the ability to interconnect the upper and lower sections of the hinges 22 for proper hanging of the doors 21. This, of course, is only possible when the hinge pins 65 are formed on the hinge upper portion 64 secured to the doors 21, it being obvious that if such hinge pins were formed on the lower hinge sections 63 it would not be possible to turn the door frame assembly top-for-bottom and hang the doors.

As should now be apparent, the door frame assembly may be readily secured to the side and back wall unit by positioning the side column rear flanges 47 adjacent the flanges 23 and 24 of the side walls 10 and 11, as best seen in the showing of FIGURE 3, and securing these flanges to one another by means of the push-on spring clips 17. When this assembly step has been completed the bottom section 20 may be installed in the previously described manner by disposing the side flanges 31 and rear flange 32in the pockets 27, 28 and 29 on the inside bottom of the side and rear wall unit, and allowing the downwardly turned front flange 66 of the bottom section 20 to overlie and interlock with the upwardly turned rear flange 61 of the door frame assembly bottom section 16, as best seen in the showing of FIGURE 2. The top section 18 is now assembled into the cabinet assembly by projecting the forwardly turned flange 67 extending from the downwardly turned front portion 68 of the top 18 into underlying engagement with the downwardly turned rear flange 59 of the door assembly top section '15, and then dropping the side and rear flanges 34 and 36 into the pockets formed by the members 33 and 34 welded to the inside of the side and rear walls adjacent their top. The intermediate shelf 19 and horizontal hanger bar 43 may be now installed to complete the assembly in the manner previously set forth.

Having now described my invention in connection with a particularly illustrated embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various modifications and changes will occur from time to time to those persons normally skilled in the art Without departing from the essential spirit or scope of my invention, and accordingly it is intended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A collapsible cabinet comprising, a unitary symmetrical door frame assembly, a separate sides and rear Wall assembl a top section, a bottom section, and two doors detachably hinged to said door frame assembly, said sides and rear wall assembly comprising a pair of parallel side panels and a rear panel substantially orthogonal to said side panels, each side panel along its rear vertical edge being hinged to a different vertical side edge of said rear panel and at its front vertical edge being turned inwardly at a right angle to form a vertically extending flange, said door frame assembly including a pair of parallel vertical side columns spaced horizontally from one another substantially the width of the cabinet, each door frame side column at its rear edge being turned inwardly to form a vertically extending flange disposed in flatwise contact throughout its vertical extent with a different one of the vertically extending side panel flanges, a plurality of fastening elements disposed at spaced vertical intervals along the contacting flanges and clamping the same together to thereby secure said door frame assembly to said sides and rear wall assembly, each of said sides and rear wall panels having pocket formation disposed at the top and bottom thereof with the pockets openings facing upward, and said top section and bottom section each having opposite side and rear downwardly turned flanges seated in the corresponding top and bottom pocket formations to thereby close the cabinet and rigidify the same.

2. The cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the said pocket formation of each of said side and rear Wall panels disposed at the bottom thereof is formed by inwardly reverse bending the bottom edge, and the pocket formations at the top thereof are formed by securing a pocket forming member to the inside surface of each of said side and rear wall panels adjacent the top edge.

3. The cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said unitary symmetrical door frame assembly includes a top section and a bottom section each bridging horizontally between said side columns and rigidly secured to the latter at the ends thereof, said door frame top section having a downwardly turned rear flange extending substantiaily the cabinet width and said door frame bottom section having an upwardly turned rear flange extending substantially the cabinet width, said cabinet top section having a downwardly and forward y turned front flange the forwardly turned portion of which closely underlies said door frame top section downwardly turned rear flange, and said cabinet bottom section having a downwardly turned front flange which closely overlies and lies fiatwise against the forward face of said door frame bottom section upwardly turned rear flange.

4. The cabinet according to claim 1 wherein each of said sides and rear wall panels have an additional pocket formation disposed intermediate the top and bottom edges thereof at the same elevation, a shelf having sides and rear downwardly turned flanges seated in said intermediately disposed pockets, and a removably secured hanger bar bridging between said side panels and disposed below said shelf.

5. The cabinet according to claim 1 wherein said door frame side columns each have secured thereto the bottom sections of a pair of vertically spaced door hinges, each such bottom hinge section having a vertical hole therethrough for receiving a hinge pin, each of said two doors having secured to one edge thereof the interfitting top sections of the hinges whose bottom sections are secured to said door frame side columns, each such top hinge section including an integral depending hinge pin disposed downward through the hole in the underlying associated bottom hinge section, said hinge sections being secured to said side columns and said doors in such relationship that said door frame assembly may be turned topfor-bottom without impairing the ability to interengage said hinge sections for proper hanging of said doors.

6. The cabinet according to claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of fastening elements disposed at spaced vertical intervals along the contacting flanges for securing said door frame assembly to said sides and rear Wall assembly is a U-shaped spring clip, the arms of the U being spring biased toward one another with the said contacting flanges disposed therebetween.

7. The cabinet according to claim 3 wherein said door frame side columns each have secured thereto the bottom sections of a pair of vertically spaced door hinges, each such bottom hinge section having a vertical hole therethrough for receiving a hinge pin, each of said two doors having secured to one edge thereof the interfltting top sections of the hinges whose bottom sections are secured to said door frame side columns, each such top hinge section including an integral depending hinge pin disposed downward through the hole in the underlying associated bottom hinge section, said hinge sections being secured to said side columns and said doors in such relationship that said door frame assembly may be turned top-forbottom without impairing the ability to interengage said hinge sections for proper hanging of said doors.

8. The cabinet according to claim 3 wherein the said pocket formation of each of said side and rear wall panels disposed at the bottom thereof is formed by inwardly reverse bending the bottom edge, and the pocket formations at the top thereof are formed by securing a pocket forming member to the inside surface of each of said side and rear wall panels adiacent the top edge.

9. The cabinet according to claim 3 wherein each of said sides and rear wall panels have an additional pocket formation disposed intermediate the top and bottom edges thereof at the same elevation, a shelf having sides and rear downwardly turned flanges seated in said intermediately disposed pockets, and a removably secured hanger bar bridging between said side panels and disposed below said shelf.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 835,902 Damato Nov. 13, 1906 1,178,612 Weiss Apr. 11, 1916 1,669,073 Albach May 8, 1928 2,072,383 Rottman Mar. 2, 1937 2,552,158 Dubofi May 8, 1951 2,583,931 Cummings Jan. 29, 1952 2,600,050 Du Boif et a1 June 10, 1952 ,934,389 Krey Apr. 26, 1960 

